Considered by many to be the most significant Catalan artist since Gaudi, the sculptor Xavier Corbero has built a home that befits his reputation: an expansive estate in the Barcelona suburb of Esplugues de Llobregat, which reveals the work of a mind that is as much artistic as architectural. 

Some 40 years in the making, Corbero’s residence has been a tireless exploration: nine pre-existing and dilapidated industrial structures have been brought back to life, forming a labyrinth composed of studios, living areas, artist residences, gallery spaces, and a subterranean workshop. 

Throughout the house, Corbero’s own monumental works, often cast in marble and basalt, loom large, as they do in prominent collections around the world, including those of the Met in New York and the Victoria & Albert museum in London. Corbero was old friends with Salvador Dalí and indeed, the surreal undoubtedly plays a lingering part in this casa sublim, where the unexpected always seems to lurk behind a closed door, emerge from an unnoticed corner, or appear out of thin air. 

STATS FROM THE SET 

Square footage of house: 38,750ft².

Number of beds/baths: 10 beds, 10 baths. 

Year house built: 1990.

Main building materials: Concrete and wood.

Oldest item in house: Chinese small sculpture.

Most treasured possession: Sense of humor.

Most unusual artifact or architectural detail: Awareness. 

What stocked in the bar: Champagne, old Armagnac and old Porto, and Vega Sicilia.

Natalia Rachlin is Design Editor-at-Large at NOWNESS.